Woman's body found in rural area, investigation launched

Authorities are searching for the identity of a woman whose body was found Friday afternoon in rural Palmyra Township. The death was termed suspicious by the Lenawee County Sheriff's Department.

The partially decomposed body was found outside a barn on Scott Highway north of Station Road, about three miles west of the village of Blissfield. It is an isolated area with only a few scattered homes.

A farmer discovered the body about 1:30 p.m. Friday while spreading lime in a cornfield that surrounds the barn and a few other outbuildings, said Sheriff Jack Welsh. A farmhouse at the site had burned years ago, he said, leaving the barn and buildings standing alone some distance from the road.

A team of Michigan State Police crime lab technicians was to process the scene Friday evening. The body was to be removed later to ProMedica Bixby Hospital.Little was known Friday afternoon about the body, said Welsh.

"We know it's been there for a little while," he said.

The decomposition made it impossible to determine her race or estimate an age, he said. He declined to describe clothing or anything that may have been found with the body.

There was nothing to found to immediately help identify the woman, Welsh said. News of the discovery could generate tips on missing women that could aid the investigation, he said.

The neighborhood will also be canvassed to collect any information residents may have that might be of help in piecing together what happened, said Welsh. Updates will be given Saturday on the progress of the investigation, he said.

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